However, this latest news that the company has laid off 14 employees just before Christmas may well affect whether future potential backers choose to pledge towards the project.

In a statement to Eurogamer, the company explained, "This is due to the changing mix of skills requirements for our current and future projects - it is not a reflection on the company's prospects, which remain healthy."

It continued, "Once we took the decision to make the roles redundant, we felt it was better that the affected people knew ASAP so they can plan any further expenditure over the Christmas period accordingly and focus on their search for new roles as soon as possible. We have provided redundancy arrangements in excess of the minimum."

Frontier says that, despite these redundancies, it is still activity recruiting "to shift the balance of skills we have within the company."